Blue Blood of Jamaica Bay Jamaica Bay, Queens, New York
Columbia GSAPP Spring 2023 | Studio Critic: Benjamin Cadena of Studio Cadena
Situated at the edge of man-made infrastructure and the water of Jamaica Bay, the project serves as a beacon for reform in the biomedical industry. The building introduces educational and conservation programs alongside those in the biomedical industry. These programs highlight the significance of Horseshoe Crabs' blood in medical and vaccine research, advocate for responsible bleeding practices, and provide refuge for the crabs during mating season. As a whole, the design aims to assert its identity within the site, deterring poaching, while within, the formal design intersects and collides, creating seamless and informal boundaries among the biomedical, educational, and conservation programs.
A(ttic)tecture Governor Island, New York
Columbia GSAPP Fall 2024 | Studio Critic: Wonne Ickx of Productora | Studio Partner: Yiu Lun (Anson) Lee
A(ttic)tecture transforms building 125, a former First Army Administration building, into a Center for Architecture. The former administration building employed typical spatial configuration of an office building where enclosed rooms are distributed on either side of a single-loaded corridor. Right across the building, a storagehouse, building 104 exists, creating a non-direct entry access to the building 125. This condition accompanied by the three different programmatic phases of the project are weaved together through extending the building 125’s roof and its structural framework, encapsulating building 104 and creating diverse attic or ‘under-the-roof’ experiences for the building users. Contrary to building 125’s former functions, safeguarding information, A(ttic)tecture creates access to information and knowledge through varying degrees of visibility as well as remnants of architectural past of the building 125 and 104.
Waste Not, Build With Nusantara, Kalimantan, Indonesia
Columbia GSAPP Spring 2025 | Studio Critic: David Benjamin of The Living
The Center: Waste Not, Build With addresses Indonesia's waste management challenges in low-income villages by converting local waste into building materials. Each center prototype is customized for its regional context, utilizing locally sourced waste transformed into familiar construction materials to encourage community adoption. More than just waste collection hubs, these centers redefine Indonesia’s architectural identity by integrating local material innovation with localized construction methods, exploring new possibilities in form, assembly, and the future of contemporary Indonesian architecture.
With Indonesia's capital relocating to Nusantara, Kalimantan, the first prototype of the Center is strategically placed on the outskirts of the new capital, surrounded by palm oil mills, plantations, and low-income villages. Here, it repurposes the vast amounts of Palm Kernel Shell (PKS), a byproduct of palm oil production, into [P]MU Blocks. This facility signals progress, sets a precedent for waste collection and management, and addresses population growth and shelter needs through sustainable development.
In addition to redefining Indonesia’s regional material identity, the Center aims to re-establish the country's architectural identity by analyzing and reinterpreting traditional architectural characteristics.
The success of the first prototype in Kalimantan paves the way for localized approaches to material innovation and evolving architectural identities across Indonesia. Regions like Jember could harness tobacco waste, while Bali could transform coastal agricultural byproducts into building materials. By tapping into the country’s agricultural and manufacturing strengths, transforming raw waste into functional, familiar materials, this project reimagines how architecture can be deeply rooted in local place, culture, and sustainability.
Phragmiticide Marine Park, Brooklyn, New York
Columbia GSAPP Spring 2024 | Studio Critic: Feifei Zhou of Feral Atlas
“Phragmiticide” unveils a multi-phased intervention at Marine Park in Brooklyn, where invasive Phragmites Australis thrives due to nitrogen from nearby wastewater treatment and golf course herbicides. The proposal reimagines the eventual replacement of the golf course with a Visitor Center, becoming the park’s new core, constantly harvesting phragmites for its activities, fostering rivaling native plant reintroduction, and restoring Monarch Butterfly habitats to ensure survival of native plants. It also envisions repurposing parts of the golf course buildings into a ‘Phragmites Composting and Milkweed Pod Harvesting Center’. Leveraging local regulations, such as ‘Monarch Preservation Plan,’ and ecological initiatives like ‘Monarchs in The Rough,’ the interventions activate both non-human and human to curb Phragmites’ spread and revitalize Monarch Butterflies populations, transforming Marine Park into a vibrant ecosystem.
Nitrogenated Marine Park Marine Park, Brooklyn, New York
Columbia GSAPP Spring 2024 | Studio Critic: Feifei Zhou of Feral Atlas | Initial Site Research with Maggie Su
The nitrogen influx coming from the nearby wastewater treatment plant and the adjacent golf course’s use of nitrogen-rich herbicide leads to the uncontrollable growth of the invasive plant species, Phragmites Australis. Phragmites’ dominance, facilitated by the absence of competing native plants and their diversity, has altered ecology, disrupting the life of native wildlife, increasing susceptibility to invasive pests, and consequently, disrupting the built environment.
Life Within The ‘Gaps’ Manhattanvile, New York
Columbia GSAPP Fall 2023 | Studio Critic: Eric Bunge of nARCHITECTS | Studio Partner: Maggie Su
Life Within The ‘Gaps’ is an affordable housing that weaves a narrative of social and economic empowerment through its tapestry of programs and spaces, such as fabrication workshops, nestled in or near the ‘gaps’ of the community. Situated in a low-income neighborhood in Manhattan, New York, the proposed workshops not only serve as vibrant hubs for creativity and innovation but also act as bridges, linking the outer and inner realms of the housing project. By integrating the existing building with the new building, and preserving the characteristic of the neighborhood, the initiative fosters a strong sense of community cohesion and belonging, enriching the lives of both residents and visitors.
The Refuge Research & Modular Prototype on the Autonomy of Female Bodies in a Space
Columbia GSAPP Spring 2023 | Design Seminar Critic: David E. Moon of NHDM
The Refuge is a self-sustaining mini-city designed to provide safe, secure reproductive care for women from states where abortion is banned. These fortified structures are strategically located in protected-abortion states near the borders of abortion-restrictive regions. Since the overturn of Roe v. Wade, clinic closures have forced women to travel long distances, adding financial and emotional burdens. Abortion clinics remain highly contested and politicized, creating unstable environments. The ever-shifting geography of abortion clinics, coupled with the need for private and secure healthcare spaces, necessitates spatial tactics, yet architecture has largely been absent in the design of reproductive healthcare spaces. The 2022 overturn of Roe v. Wade underscored the volatility of abortion laws but also highlighted the critical role architects can play in advancing safe, equitable access to reproductive healthcare through thoughtful spatial strategies.
Permeated Melody Fillmore, San Francisco
Academy of Art University Fall 2019 | Studio Critic: Karen Seong
A community music hub designed to provide access and healing spaces for marginalized groups through the transformative power of music. Music serves as a universal language, empowering those who are often misunderstood. This hub fosters self-expression and self-worth through experiences that mirror the journey of personal discovery, transitioning between dark, narrow spaces and bright, open areas. The circular design of the spaces enhances this journey, symbolizing the non-linear and evolving process of healing and the search for personal significance. As a whole, through subtractive language extracted from initial mapping exercise, interstitial spaces—voids—are formed and defined by the fragmentation of architectural elements, offering diverse spatial experiences.
Reverse Gentrification Research Manhattan, New York
Columbia GSAPP Fall 2022 | Studio Critic: Carlyle Fraser
Broadway Street is iconic, breaking the rigidity of Manhattan’s grid and dividing it into the Eastern and Western sides. From 2000 to 2020, Manhattan’s changes prioritized profit over people, particularly affecting the Eastern side. Historical preservation has redlined communities of color (Image 03), and funds from EB-5 Visa meant for distressed areas like Harlem were diverted to projects like Hudson Yards (Image 02). With the high displacement risk in Hell’s Kitchen, the capitalistic culture of Broadway’s Eastern side is spreading to the Western side (Image 01).
The Future of ‘Primitive’ Architecture Fellowship in Thailand
IMP Traveling Fellowship 2024 | Mentor & Supervisor: Sandy Darmasaputra
The Future of 'Primitive' Architecture explores contemporary Thai architecture, tracing its lineage to traditional design and examining how Thai architects contemporize what are inherently known as the characteristics of traditional Thai architecture through local material innovation, revival and evolving building techniques, and Thailand's cultural narrative.